The staff obviously love animals, which is of course crucial for a humane society to actually be humane. Got my fur-beast 2 years ago - an elderly cat who apparently came in emaciated and matted. They cleaned her up, but she wasn't doing too well in the cat area - was freaked out by all the other kitties. So, they moved her into the office and she became the free-range office cat (who would still freeze whenever another cat came in). Developed a beautiful coat of hair, and fattened up quickly. The staff literally cried when we took her, even though they said they were happy she was finally going to a good home. They grilled us to make sure we'd be taking good care of her, and they provided so much good information to make sure the transition went well.
Hopefully my beast has a few more years in her, but when the time comes I'll certainly be looking at other elderly cats at Toronto Humane Society. In my experience, elderly cats are so low maintenance (since they sleep so much!), but still have so much love to give! Without the annoying kitten litter box training, scratching, generally being annoying...